Betta: Competence, Patriotism Shouldn’t Be Sacrificed On Altar Of Sentiments — Amb. Okereke  

A public affairs analyst, Amb. Chibuzor Okereke, has urged Nigerians, especially relevant authorities not be beclouded by political sentiments of any sort on the allegations of corruption against the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, until she is proven guilty.

Okereke, in an interview with journalists in Abuja, said: “as investigations into the issue is ongoing, it will be an error to jump to conclusions on allegations against someone, who has been adjudged in many quarters as the best performing minister in terms of competence, capacity, patriotism and passion in less than six months on the job.

“We must not allow the alleged N585million said to have transferred to the Project Manager’s account to distract Nigerians from the issue of alleged over N44billion to have been diverted from the National Social Investment Program Agency account.”

Recall that President Bola Tinubu recently suspended the embattled minister and directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe the allegations of unlawful transfer of N585 million of social intervention funds into a private bank account of an officer of the ministry.

Those calling for the head of Edu are of the view that the transfer contravened relevant sections of the Financial Regulation rules, which are meant to prevent fraud and other forms of corruption.

Section 713 of the law states, “Personal money shall in no circumstances be paid into a government bank account, nor shall any public money be paid into a private bank account. An officer who pays public money into a private account is deemed to have done so with fraudulent intention.”

However, the minister has denied any wrong doing, stating that the payment of the grant to the account of an individual, Oniyelu Bridget, was because the fellow currently serves as the Project Accountant of Grants for Vulnerable Groups, adding that “the plans to tarnish the image of this administration, my person or the ministry will amount to nothing.”

As investigations continues, well-meaning Nigerians, supporters of the Tinubu administration, including APC Governors Forum, have cautioned against politicising the matter, with many urging President Tinubu to give the minister a second chance, considering her poise and competence in steering the programmes of the ministry in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the administration.

According to Amb. Okereke, “The focus should be on whether the disbursement got to the people that supposed to really get the money and for the right purpose, because based solely on the leaked N585million memo, there are no infractions by the minister as the financial regulation rules allow MDAs to use accounts of project managers and project accountants for disbursements of special programmes as you can see in No. 1402(iii).

“Those calling for her head are only relying on Section 713 of the law, which deals with bank and cheques. That is no longer even applicable because of TSA, and the introduction of TSA demands that that section should be reviewed to avoid conflicting application.”

He added that, “Financial Regulations No. 1402 (iii) on Special Advances states that ‘in disbursement of funds for Non-Persona Advance for project/Special Programmes, the leader of the project special programmes shall be the Accounting Officer and shall approve all payments, while an Accountant of an appriopriate grade shall be attached to each project/special programmes and have responsibility for the disbursement as well as retirement of the Non-Personal Advances.’

“I think this section is what the minister actually applied, as it is been done in all MDAs because a private person is someone who is an outsider, a project manager and project accountant cannot be private because he is an officer in the MDA and the regulations provides that he or she shall be held accountable for funds disbursement.

“I am of the strong opinion that this matter should not be blown out of proportion but should be looked at objectively to avoid attacking the personality and not the issues and we must not lose focus of the big issues of reforming the National Social Register, involving states and Local Government actors in the implementation of the programs and ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of the agency

“The Minister of Finance and Accountant General of the Federation should also ensure that robust accounting systems are established for the Ministry and Agencies under it, while the officers of the Ministry must ensure that proper internal control systems are maintained regularly.

“The Humanitarian Affairs Ministry being headed by Edu is very strategic and central to the achievement of the Renewed Hope Agenda, and despite being the youngest among all, she has demonstrated capacity and competence; her passion and patriotism to ensure that President Tinubu succeeds in tackling poverty must not be discarded just like that,” Amb. Okereke stated.